Norway's Equinor formally announces start of Halten East gas production

Norway's state-controlled Equinor formally announced March 17 the start of production from the Halten East development in the Norwegian Sea, two years after the Norwegian authorities approved it.

The development consists of six gas discoveries -- with flexibility for three additional prospects -- and uses existing infrastructure and processing capacity at Asgard B.

The six discoveries of Halten East are: Natalia, Sigrid, Nona, Flyndretind, Gamma and Harepus.

"We are starting up Halten East at a time where piped gas from Norway is in high demand and important for energy security," Geir Tungesvik, Equinor's executive vice president for projects, drilling, and procurement, said in a statement.

"In a challenging cost and inflation environment, the project has been delivered both on time and within our cost estimate," Tungesvik said.

The development plan for Halten East was approved by authorities in February 2023.

In a first phase, six wells from five discoveries will be brought onto production. A second phase is planned in 2029 and will include a sidetrack and an additional three possible wells.

The total investment of the project is around NOK9 billion ($850 million) for both phases.

The reservoirs of Halten East contain gas and condensate, with total recoverable reserves estimated at some 100 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Gas from Halten East is sent to the Karsto gas processing facility from Asgard B from where it is exported to Europe via pipeline.

Equinor is operator with a 69.5% stake. Its partners are Var Energi (24.6%) and Petoro (5.9%).

Halten East was created after it was ascertained that finding economically viable development alternatives for each individual project was difficult.

In 2020 the licensees that made discoveries agreed to develop the area as a unit. Most of the discoveries covered by the development were made around 2008-2010.

European supply

Continued investment in new projects will enable Norway to maintain its export levels in the longer term.

Norway is now the biggest single supplier of gas to Europe after Russian flows were sharply curtailed through 2022, with Norwegian deliveries meeting around a quarter of European demand.

Norwegian operators maximized production and European exports to help offset lost Russian volumes and to make the most of high prices, which hit record highs in the summer 2022.

Producers continue to look to ensure high output levels given the ongoing strength in European gas prices. Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the TTF month-ahead price on March 14 at Eur42.22/MWh.

Total Norwegian gas production reached a record high of 124 Bcm in 2024, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in January, surpassing the previous record level from 2022.

In its annual outlook, the NOD said production was expected to remain at a stable level before a gradual decrease toward the end of the 2020s. Gas production is set to drop to 110.8 Bcm in 2029, it said.